


Package Received

by Emanemmy12



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 07:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5777218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emanemmy12/pseuds/Emanemmy12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Tell Shaw I was touched she came to look for me.” A response to the prompt "do one where Shaw has to deal with Root coming off the drugs Control used and/or withdrawing from them"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Package Received

She had managed to cope for long enough to get to somewhere safe. It was a strange feeling to feel like she could burst at any moment and like things were slipping, fading away. There were countless times when she had stumbled, fallen, but that gorgeous voice in her one working ear kept whispering promises and possibilities. It wasn’t until Root collapsed onto a floor and couldn’t get up that the Machine had to try something different. 

It had already been a grueling day for Shaw. Her normal scowl was affixed on her face as she walked through the streets of New York. As she walked, the people seemed to move, giving her a bubble of space that was rare, so intimidating she looked. The only thing she was looking forward to today was a good meal and a drink. That at least was something that was guaranteed. What she wasn’t expecting was for someone to roughly grab her collar and pulled into an alley. She was almost about to deck whoever this was, when Shaw realized that whoever it was was much bigger than she was. Even without the element of surprise, she didn’t have her gun. Though the hulking mass of muscle let her go and then spoke the most curious words. “Boss says you ordered this one and I’m not supposed to leave till you take it.” 

“The fuck are you talking about?” came Sameen’s response. “Who the fuck are you?” The man just gave a smile and pointed further into the alley. There seemed to be a dark image of someone else there on the ground. Shaw’s eyes darted from the man, to the figure and back again. Judging that she better at least see who was on the ground, Shaw inched towards the figure. Then, her whole figure relaxed. It was Root. 

“Do you need help moving the package?”

At the words, Sameen turned back to the mass of muscle and shook her head. “No I’ve got this one.” She stooped and looped one of Root’s arms around her shoulders, one of her hands going to slightly above Root’s hips. Oh if she could have words with the Machine. But clearly the only people that were allowed to speak with it were it’s father and people who were insane. But she owed Root a debt. If she hadn’t taken the fall for them, come to rescue all of them, then Shaw had no doubt that she would be in the ground by now. So, to repay that, she dragged Root another few blocks to her apartment. Normally she would have paid more attention to the hired muscle, but it was clearly something that the Machine had up her, no it’s sleeve. She couldn’t start letting Root’s silly beliefs affecting how she treated her new(ish) non-government sanctioned job. Luckily it was late enough that it merely looked like she was taking care of an extremely inebriated friend or else there would have been so much more trouble. Even with all of that height, Root was so light compared to some of the things that Shaw had moved and it made her wonder how someone who felt like they could easily float away had taken so many other lives. Perhaps that was a bit too much of a military way to think of things. By now she should know that there are many other ways to gain power and strength rather than by physical prowess. With a grunt, she managed to open her door and into the hallway. Root’s height was still a pain in the ass. But once inside, Root was unceremoniously dropped to the floor. Shaw then went to her couch and popped it into a bed. If she was going to be helping this idiot, then it would be on something that she could easily replace. Then, painstakingly, she dragged Root onto it and began her examination. There were no bullet holes, no blood even. That’s when Shaw came across the minuscule dots on this woman’s arm. She cursed herself. She should have known. Of course. Root had been tortured by her former employers. She knew this technique. There was nothing that she could do without the proper medical supplies and Shaw didn’t know if she had time to be able to get there without Root dying. The best option was to just make the hacker comfortable and sit vigil to see if she lived or if she died. 

It seemed like hours before there was even a sign of like from Root and then it was an extreme reaction. Like someone who was gasping for air, she bolted upright and coughed, her whole body shaking with every rasp of air that tore itself through her lungs. Her hands automatically gripped the sheets and even though her eyes were now open, it didn’t seem like she even knew where she was. Shaw had been startled awake by the noises, never having left the seat she’d pulled besides Root’s bed. Sameen waited a few moments and then sprang into action. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass to fill with water and brought it over to the spluttering and gasping woman. The words coming out of her mouth sounded like gibberish and so Shaw ignored them. Electing instead to muscle the glass to Root’s lips. After, finally, she took a drink and seemed to calm down, did Shaw allow herself to sit back. The glassiness to Root’s eyes faded as minutes ticked and she turned to gaze at the woman in the chair. “Sameen?” 

The questioning in Root’s voice seemed so pathetic that Shaw didn’t instantly smack her for being overly friendly. “Yes?” There wasn’t another response, but instead Root just stared at the vision before her. Sameen had seen several different reactions to the drugs that they pumped through people’s veins, but this was just strange. It was like Root didn’t believe that she was even there. “The drugs don’t make you hallucinate.” It wasn’t as harsh as she meant it. She didn’t even know what would make Root think she was hallucinating her of all people. 

A raspy laugh came from the other woman and Root shook her head. “I know. I just…” she paused and her head tilted to one side for a few moments. But then everything snapped back together and she looked back at Shaw. “Thank you. I need to take a shower.”

“Yeah sure, if you can even stand on your own.” It was a challenge. Neither of them were going to back down and so Root, with great effort, started to move. It took inches by inches but eventually she managed to get it so her feet touched the floor as she sat from the edge of the bed. Root licked her lips, looked at Shaw, and tried to lift herself. Muscles shook, strained, and then finally collapsed, leaving her stuck. Shaw smirked. “Looks like you are stuck here until you can move.” She stood and pushed Root back onto the bed. “I don’t care whatever you think you are doing next. You’ll stay here until you can get along by yourself.” Sameen wasn’t stupid, she knew the importance that Root had for the mission and the Machine. She had always been good at picking up patterns, even if that meant patterns in behaviors, even if she couldn’t replicate them herself. There was a second when it looked like Root might object, or try to get up again. But then she fell again, unconscious. With a sigh, Shaw hefted her legs back up into the bed, and went to get her a hot compress. Hopefully getting Root to sweat out the drugs would help her more than anything else right now. Eventually, early in the morning, Shaw decided that she didn’t need to sit and watch Root anymore. Her heartbeat was still going strong and things seemed to be regulating themselves back to normal. There wasn’t much else that Sameen could do for her unwanted patient anyways. 

When she awoke, stomach growling, in her bed, Shaw had to remember what exactly had happened the night before and pushed herself out of bed quickly. In her sort of living room, the pull out bed was empty. She swore. Turning, Sameen checked the bathroom. Again there was no sign. With a growl, Shaw moved to the door of her apartment and threw it open, looking down the hallways. There was nothing. With a sigh, she returned to apartment. Even if she wanted to go look for Root, Shaw had absolutely no leads. Instead, she would just have to hope that Root got enough rest to stop being a complete idiot.

**Author's Note:**

> As per usual, my tumblr is http://waitingintheflowers.tumblr.com and thank you so much for reading! I haven't been writing so much these days, life has been getting in the way. So I can't make any promises, but this was floating in my mind for awhile.


End file.
